KALEIDOSCOPE ANIMATOR V1.0 -------------------------- WRITTEN BY: BRYCE L. TOMLINSON AND KELLY ETHRIDGE. CREATED & DESIGNED BY BRYCE L. TOMLINSON AND KEN (CAPTAIN KENBY) NAKATSU SPECIAL THANKS GO TO ERIK AYER & CHRIS NELSEN KALEIDOSCOPE ANIMATOR IS ONE OF THE FINE KALEIDOSCOPE PRODUCTS FROM B.I.G. O.L.' 64 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS ANIMATOR IS CREATED BASICALLY AS A MORE ADVANCED SUBSTITUTE FOR PEOPLE WHO WOULD NORMALLY PREFER TO USE TERMINAL BUFFERS, SMALL BUFFER PROGRAMS,AND THE LIKE TO DO THEIR COLOR/GRAPHIC ANIMATIONS FOR BBS'S. IT CONTAINS ALL THE BENEFITS OF AN ADVANCED ANIMATOR, COMBINED WITH THE CAPABILITY OF LENGTHY ANIMATIONS, PAGE FLIPPING, VARIABLE SPEED, QUICK DISK ACCESS, AND MUCH MORE.THIS PROGRAM IS NOT **FREE**. IT IS NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN, NOR IS IT EVER INTENDED TO BE. IT MAY BE DISTRIBUTED AS ANYONE MAY WISH, BUT IT IS NOT **FREE**. THE AUTHORS AND DEVELOPERS HAVE SPENT MUCH HARD TIME PRESENTING THIS QUALITY PROGRAM FOR YOUR USE, AND FULLY **EXPECT** YOU TO SEND THEM A SMALL FEE OF $5.00 OR MORE, MADE PAYABLE TO BRYCE L. TOMLINSON, TO: B.I.G. O.L. 64' 5227 NE 23RD PORTLAND, OR 97211 IF YOU USE THIS PROGRAM FREQUENTLY, PLEASE SUPPORT ITS AUTHORS, AND THEY WILL, IN TURN, CONTINUE TO SUPPORT YOU. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GETTING STARTED: ---------------- TO LOAD KALEIDOSCOPE ANIMATOR, SIMPLY TYPE: LOAD "KSCOPE ANIMATOR",8 AND HIT [RETURN]. ONCE THE PROGRAM IS FULLY LOADED, TYPE "RUN" AND HIT RETURN. IN A MOMENT OR TWO YOU SHOULD SEE THE TITLE SCREEN, WHICH WILL SHOW FOR ONLY A MINUTE OR SO. YOU CAN BYPASS THIS DELAY BY HITTING THE SPACEBAR. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE MAIN MENU: -------------- ONCE YOU ARE ALL STARTED UP, YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF AT THE MAIN MENU, WITH SEVERAL COMMANDS AVAILABLE TO YOU. THERE WILL BE A LIST OF COMMANDS THAT YOU CAN USE IN *EDIT MODE* ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE MENU. THESE COMMANDS CANNOT BE ACCESSED DIRECTLY FROM THE MAIN MENU, BUT ARE TO BE USED WHEN YOU ARE CREATING YOUR ACTUAL ANIMATION--THEY ARE LISTED THERE SIMPLY FOR REFERENCE. IN THIS SECTION OF THE DOCS, WE WILL EXPLAIN THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FROM THE MENU IN ORDER OF THEIR IMPORTANCE. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTINUE: --------- CONTINUE IS THE COMMAND YOU WOULD USE TO EITHER START A NEW FILE OR CONTINUE ADDING TO A FILE THAT IS ALREADY IN THE BUFFER. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE THIS FUNCTION IF THE BUFFER IS FULL. WHENEVER YOU HIT (C) FROM THE MAIN MENU, YOU WILL BE PUT INTO EDIT MODE. IF THERE IS ALREADY A FILE IN THE BUFFER, YOU WILL BE PROMPTED AS TO WHETHER YOU WOULD LIKE TO REVIEW THE ANIMATION FROM THE START, BEFORE CONTINUING INTO EDIT MODE. EDIT MODE: ---------- THE EDIT MODE IS WHERE ALL THE WORK IS REALLY DONE. YOU TYPE IN YOUR GRAPHICS AND TEXT AS IF YOU WERE TYPING THEM ONLINE, AND THE COMPUTER WILL REMEMBER EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE. CURSOR MOVEMENTS, COLOR CHANGES, AND SO FORTH... YOU CAN EVEN USE THE COMMON SCREEN COLOR CHANGE BY HITTING [CTRL-B] AND THEN THE COLOR. YOU CAN ALSO SOUND THE BELL BY HITTING [CTRL-G]. EVERYTHING YOU DO GOES RIGHT INTO THE BUFFER. IF YOU WISH TO RETURN TO THE MAIN MENU, YOU CAN HIT [F1]. KALEIDOSCOPE ANIMATOR CONTAINS 4 SCREEN BANKS WHICH YOU CAN STORE WORK SCREENS IN. YOU CAN LOAD IMAGES INTO THEM TO TRACE OVER WITH THE ANIMATOR (SEE THE SECTION ON THE "DISK MENU"), AND YOU CAN MANIPULATE THEM IN OTHER WAYS ALSO. YOU CAN STORE WHATEVER IS ON THE SCREEN INTO ONE OF THE 4 SCREEN BANKS BY HITTING [F4]. YOU CAN RECALL ANY ONE OF THESE SCREENS BY HITTING [F3]. YOU CAN PAGE FORWARD AND BACKWARD THROUGH THE PAGES BY HITTING [F5] FOR FORWARD, AND [F7] FOR BACKWARD. REMEMBER THAT AS YOU PAGE FORWARD, YOU SCREENS ARE SAVED INTO THE BANK THAT YOU ARE LEAVING. THIS ANIMATOR ALSO HAS THE UNIQUE ABILITY TO MARK A PLACE IN THE BUFFER--THAT WAY YOU CAN CONTINUE TO EXPERIMENT FURTHER INTO THE BUFFER, AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE WHAT YOU'VE DONE, YOU CAN SIMPLY RETURN TO THAT MARKER, WITHOUT HAVING TO PRESS THE DELETE KEY UNTIL YOUR HAND FALLS OFF. TO PLACE A MARK IN YOUR BUFFER, SIMPLY HIT [F6]. IF YOU DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR EXPERIMENT, YOU CAN HIT [F8] TO RETURN TO THAT MARKER. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE THAT OCCASION WHERE YOU WANT TO STRAY FROM THE NORMAL REALM OF UPPERCASE GRAPHICS AND TEXT, AND WANDER INTO THE LOWERCASE ZONE. THUS, WE'VE ACCOMMODATED THAT DEMAND. TO SWITCH TO LOWERCASE, YOU CAN HIT [CTRL-N]. TO RETURN TO YOUR NATIVE UPPERCASE MODE, SIMPLY HIT [CTRL-U]. REMEMBER THAT THIS WILL BE REMEMBERED IN THE BUFFER. IF YOU USE THE OLD C=/SHIFT TECHNIQUE, IT WILL NOT BE REMEMBERED IN THE BUFFER, SO TAKE NOTE AND USE THE PROPER ONE FOR THE JOB. NOW BACK TO THE MAIN MENU OPTIONS... ACTIVE SCREEN: -------------- WHILE YOU ARE AT THE MAIN MENU, YOU MAY FOR SOME REASON WANT TO CHANGE ACTIVE SCREENS SO THAT YOU CAN TRACE FROM ONE OF YOUR OTHER SCREEN BANKS. YOU CAN DO THIS BY HITTING ANY OF THE KEYS [1-4] FROM THE MAIN MENU. THIS WILL ENABLE YOU TO START TO WORK EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT TO. REVIEW: ------- NOW THAT YOU'VE CREATED THE MOST ULTIMATE GRAPHICS ANIMATION SEQUENCE OF ALL TIME, HOW ABOUT SHOWING IT OFF? BY HITTING [R] FROM THE MAIN MENU, YOU CAN VIEW THE ENTIRE BUFFER ALL THE WAY THROUGH. REVIEW PACE: ------------ IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT YOUR ANIMATION (REALLY SEE WHAT MAKES IT TICK) YOU CAN SLOW IT DOWN TO A SNAIL'S PACE OR SPEED IT UP TO LIGHTNING FAST USING THE REVIEW PACE OPTION. BY HITTING [-] OR [+] FROM THE MAIN MENU, YOU CAN SELECT YOUR OWN PACE (0-100) AND REVIEW YOUR BUFFER AS FAST OR AS SLOW AS YOU WANT. REGISTER DELETE: ---------------- THE DELETE KEY CAN BE YOUR FRIEND OR YOUR ENEMY. REMEMBER THAT. THAT'S WHY WE DECIDED TO MAKE IT YOUR CHOICE WHETHER OR NOT TO BUFFER THE DELETE KEY. IF THE "REGISTER DELETE" IS "OFF", ANY TIME YOU HIT THE DELETE KEY, IT WILL SIMPLY DELETE THE LAST CHARACTER IN THE BUFFER. IF THE "REGISTER DELETE" IS "ON", THEN EVERY TIME YOU HIT THE DELETE, IT WILL BUFFER THAT DELETE. I.E. YOU HIT "B", THEN HIT [DELETE] WITH THE REGISTER "ON". WHEN YOU GO TO REVIEW IT, IT WILL SHOW A "B" THEN THE "B" WILL BE DELETED FROM THE SCREEN. IF YOU WERE TO HAVE THE REGISTER "OFF", THE "B" WOULD HAVE JUST NEVER SHOWN UP. VERY USEFUL FOR ANIMATIONS ALSO! ERASE BUFFER: ------------- TO CLEAR OUT THE BUFFER FOR A FRESH START, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS HIT [E] FROM THE MAIN MENU. AS A SAFEGUARD, IT WILL ALWAYS ASK YOU IF YOU ARE POSITIVE. WOULDN'T WANT TO SEE LOTS AND LOTS OF HARD WORK GO DOWN THE TUBES, EH? DIRECTORY: ---------- TO VIEW A DISK DIRECTORY, SIMPLY HIT [$] FROM THE MAIN MENU. AT ANY TIME, YOU CAN HIT [SPACE] TO PAUSE, OR [RUN/STOP] TO STOP THE LISTING ENTIRELY. NOTE: THIS OPTION IS ALSO AVAILABLE AT THE DISK MENU. BYTES FREE: ----------- YOU CAN TELL HOW FAR ALONG YOU ARE IN THE BUFFER BY HOW MUCH SPACE IS LEFT IN IT. TYPICALLY, THE BUFFER STARTS OUT WITH 21,900 BYTES. AS YOU WORK YOUR WAY INTO THE BUFFER, THAT NUMBER WILL GO DOWN. BE CAREFUL NOT TO GET INTO THE NEGATIVE DIGITS--YOU COULD CAUSE A CRASH. FORTUNATELY, THE BUFFER WILL STOP YOU AT 0, BUT IF YOU PERSIST, IT WILL GO INTO NEGATIVE NUMBERS. THE DISK MENU: -------------- THIS IS WHERE YOU DO MOST OF YOUR DISK ACCESSING... YOU LOAD, SAVE, AND APPEND FROM THERE. TO GET TO THE DISK MENU, HIT [D] FROM THE MAIN MENU. YOU CAN CHANGE THE ACTIVE SCREEN FROM THE DISK MENU ALSO--FOR A DIFFERENT REASON THAN YOU WOULD AT THE MAIN MENU. FROM HERE, YOU CAN LOAD ANY SEQUENTAIL FILE INTO THE ACTIVE SCREEN. THAT WAY, YOU COULD LOAD IN A GRAPHIC INTO SAY, SCREEN 2 AND THEN TRACE OVER IT AND ANIMATE IT IN SCREEN 1 (IN THE BUFFER!) TO CHANGE SCREENS, HIT ANY OF THE KEYS [1-4]. TO LOAD A FILE INTO THE ACTIVE SCREEN BANK, HIT [*]. TO LOAD A FILE INTO THE BUFFER, HIT THE [L] KEY FROM THE DISK MENU. YOU WILL THEN BE PROMPTED FOR THE FILENAME, AND THE PROGRAM WILL LOAD THE FILE. TO SAVE A FILE FROM THE BUFFER TO THE DISK DRIVE, HIT THE [S] KEY FROM THE DISK MENU. YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR THE FILENAME, THEN THE PROGRAM WILL SAVE THE FILE TO DISK, IF ENOUGH SPACE IS LEFT ON THE DISK. YOU CAN APPEND A FILE FROM THE DISK INTO THE BUFFER, ADDING IT ONTO THE END OF WHATEVER IS ALREADY IN THE BUFFER. THIS IS PARTICULARLY USEFUL WHEN YOU WANT TO ADD A PIECE OF ANIMATION OR REPETITIVE GRAPHICS INTO THE BUFFER, THAT WAY YOU DON'T END UP TYPING THEM OVER AND OVER. TO USE THE APPEND INTO BUFFER COMMAND, HIT [A] FROM THE DISK MENU. YOU CAN ALSO APPEND YOUR BUFFER ONTO THE END OF A DISK FILE. THIS IS GREAT IF YOU WANT TO MAKE REALLY LONG ANIMATIONS THAT THE BUFFER CANNOT HANDLE. TO USE THE APPEND TO DISK FILE COMMAND, HIT [D] FROM THE DISK MENU. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND A COMMAND TO THE DRIVE (I.E. TO SCRATCH A FILE, VALIDATE OR FORMAT A DISK, OR RENAME FILES) YOU CAN DO SO BY HITTING [@] AT THE DISK MENU. MAKE SURE THAT WHEN YOU USE THIS COMMAND, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING--YOU COULD DAMAGE A DISK, OR EVEN YOUR DRIVE IF YOU DON'T. TO VIEW A DIRECTORY, YOU CAN HIT THE [$] KEY. TO ABORT THE LISTING, HIT [RUN/STOP] OR YOU CAN PAUSE IT BY HITTING [SPACE]. IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN 1 DRIVE (MANY PEOPLE DO) THEN YOU MAY CHOOSE TO USE A DIFFERENT DRIVE FROM THE ONE THAT YOU BOOTED UP ON... YOU CAN USE THE CHANGE DEVICE COMMAND BY HITTING [#] FROM THE DISK MENU. YOU CAN CHANGE THE DEVICE ANYWHERE FROM 8-11. TO RETURN TO THE MAIN MENU, HIT [RETURN] AT THE DISK MENU. ---------------------------------------- THAT SHOULD SUM IT UP. KALEIDOSCOPE ANIMATOR WAS STARTED IN 1989 AND FINISHED IN FEBRUARY OF 1991. (A LOT OF DUST COLLECTED ON IT FOR A WHILE!) WE HOPE YOU LIKE IT AS MUCH AS WE DO. IT'S THE PRODUCT OF MUCH WORK AND MUCH NEED. PLEASE SUPPORT THE AUTHORS OF THIS PROGRAM. WE HAVE SUPPORTED YOU IN THE PAST, AND WE STILL DO. INCLUDED IN THIS PACKAGE IS A LITTLE PROGRAM CALLED "MACRO MAKER". HERE'S A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF IT 'S FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES. TO LOAD MACRO MAKER, TYPE: LOAD "MACRO MAKER",8 AND HIT [RETURN]. THEN TYPE "RUN" AND [RETURN] AGAIN. MACRO MAKER IS SOMETHING THAT I (BRYCE) THREW TOGETHER TO SOLVE A SLIGHT INCONVENIENCE. SOMETIMES WHEN YOU ARE MAKING AN ANIMATION, YOU CAN'T SEEM TO QUITE PUT THE GRAPHICS IN JUST THE RIGHT PLACE--WITHOUT ALL THE INSERTS OR DELETES TO PLACE THEM. WITH MACRO MAKER, YOU CAN TAKE ANY GRAPHIC (UP TO A SCREENFUL) AND IT WILL FOLLOW EACH LINE TO THE END, THEN CURSOR BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT LINE. WHAT THIS DOES IS ELIMINATES ALL THE CARRIAGE RETURNS IN THE FILE, AND MAKES IT SO YOU CAN EASILY JUST POSITION YOUR CURSOR IN THE BUFFER, THEN APPEND THE GRAPHIC INTO THE BUFFER, AND REVIEW IT TO SHOW WHERE THE GRAPHIC ENDED UP (RIGHT WHERE YOUR CURSOR LEFT OFF!) YOU CAN USE IT TO MAKE LARGE OBJECTS MOVE IN ANY DIRECTION ACCROSS THE SCREEN, JUT APPEND IT, THEN "SPACE" IT OUT OF THE PICTURE, REPOSITION YOUR CURSOR, THEN APPEND IT AGAIN. YOU CAN SEE A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF A PERFECT USE OF THIS TECHNIQUE BY LOOKING AT "SNOWBALLFIGHT", A DEMO ANIMATION THAT I DID USING KALEIDOSCOPE ANIMATOR. KEN DID THE ANIMATED PORTION OF THE "TETRIS" GRAPHIC THAT IS ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS PACKAGE. ALTHOUGH HE DIDN'T USE MACRO MAKER FOR HIS ANIMATION, HE COULD HAVE. I DON'T KNOW IF IT WOULD HAVE SAVED HIM ANY TROUBLE THOUGH, CONSIDERING THE MANY PIECES IT REQUIRED TO PUT THAT TOGETHER. ALL YOU DO TO USE MACRO MAKER IS TYPE IN THE FILENAME OF THE GRAPHIC THAT YOU WANT TO MAKE INTO AN ANIMATOR MACRO, AND THEN MACRO MAKER DOES THE WORK. IT WILL LOAD IN AND REFORMAT YOUR PICTURE INTO A MACRO. THEN YOU JUST TYPE IN THE NEW FILENAME, AND IT SAVES IT. NO FRILLS, IT JUST WORKS. HOPE YOU GET A LOT OUT OF THIS PACKAGE. MAYBE ANIMATIONS WILL BE MORE COMMON NOW. -BRYCE L. TOMLINSON, CO-AUTHOR